Pence: Time for Republicans to rally around ticket; Gingrich, Kelly duke it out over alleged media bias

This is a rush transcript from "The Kelly File," October 25, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MEGYN KELLY, HOST: Breaking tonight, exactly two weeks from tonight, election results will be pouring in. I know. I know. And the campaign that has broken every rule will just about be over. But in the meantime one of Donald Trump's most trusted advisers is hinting at some surprises ahead of the final phase of the 2016 race. And that's where we begin this edition of "The Kelly File."

Welcome, everybody. I'm Megyn Kelly. Today the two campaigns are barnstorming the key battleground state of Florida, Mr. Trump holding five events across the state. Hillary Clinton holding a single public event there too. With its 29 electoral votes, the latest Real Clear Politics average shows Mrs. Clinton with roughly a three-point edge on Mr. Trump in Florida. We have an extremely powerful line-up for you tonight to discuss election 2016.

Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence is here and we'll ask him about the surprises in store. We'll also be joined by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich as well as by Hillary Clinton supporter General John Allen. But we begin tonight with our chief political correspondent campaign Carl Cameron who filed this report from Tallahassee, Florida just a short time ago.

CARL CAMERON, FOX NEWS CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi Megyn. Donald Trump is wrapping up three days of campaigning in Florida. A state that he has acknowledged that he must win. And now he's got an entirely new closing argument. He had planned on it to be his contract with the American voter repackaging all of these policy proposals. But the revelation that ObamaCare premiums, the Affordable Care Act costs are going to go up next year, has taken over his rhetoric, he's using it not just to go after healthcare and said that he'll repeal and replace ObamaCare. He is also trying to wed Hillary Clinton to it and he hopes to take her down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, R-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: As you know, it's just been announced that Americans are going to experience another massive double digit spike in ObamaCare premiums, including more than a 100 percent increase in the great state of Arizona. They're going up over 100 percent. Think of it. And everybody is going to be going up like that. We're going to repeal it and we're going to replace it and we're going to get you great, great health care at a fraction of the cost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMERON: Earlier today in Sanford, Florida, the Secret Service, a metal detectors counted 15,000 people at his rally and last night he had 12,000 in Tampa. Trumps crowds are beginning to grow. That doesn't always mean that the poll numbers are going to shift. Mitt Romney got 60,000 in the last couple of weeks and he lost to Barack Obama in 2012. But there's no question that Donald Trump sees momentum, he sees an urgent enthusiasm, and now he's got a new attack on health care that he thinks will carry him right to Election Day -- Megyn.

KELLY: Carl, thank you. Well, for his part, vice presidential candidate Mike Pence is headed to Utah. Utah. With critics suggesting that this trip signals trouble since this is a state that has reliably voted Republican in every presidential contest since 1964. Trump advisor Rudy Giuliani however says not to worry, Trump still has a few surprises in store for us. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FOX & FRIENDS")

BRIAN KILMEADE, CO-HOST: Did Donald Trump plan anything except for a series of inspiring rallies?

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Yes.

AINSLEY EARHARDT, CO-HOST: What?

GIULIANI: You'll see.

(LAUGHTER)

EARHARDT: When will this happen?

GIULIANI: We've got a couple of surprises left.

STEVE DOOCY, CO-HOST: October surprises? Or early November surprises?

GIULIANI: Surprises in the way that we're going to campaign to get our message out there. Maybe in a little bit of a different way. And you'll see. And I think it will be enormously effective.

KELLY: So, can you give us any sort of a hint what that means, what kind of surprises we might be in store for?

PENCE: Well I think -- I think for many in the mainstream national media, the big surprise is going to come on November the 8th when Donald Trump is elected the 45th president of the United States. I got to tell you, across Ohio today and North Carolina yesterday, we're just -- we're seeing incredible crowds coming out for Donald Trump, the enthusiasm that we see across this state, frankly across the country is like nothing I've ever seen in my lifetime. So, we're going to continue to carry that message forward about making America great again, rebuilding our economy, reviving our economy, having a Supreme Court that upholds our constitution. And I like our chances come Election Day. KELLY: But you know that the crowd sizes don't really mean that much. I mean Mitt Romney had huge crowd sizes at this point back in 2012 and he lost handily to Barack Obama. In North Carolina Trump is down 2.1. Mitt Romney won that state by 2.2 points. Trump is down in Arizona, a reliably red state by 1.3. Mitt Romney won that state by 10 points. Trump only leads Texas, Missouri, South Carolina, your home state of Indiana by single digits. Mitt Romney won all of those states by ten points or more. Isn't it true you are behind in the polls right now?

PENCE: You know, I really -- number one, Megyn, the only poll that counts is the one we're going to finish up come Election Day. But I got to tell you, I really do think that the pollsters and the pundits are missing something in this election.

KELLY: Right now the political prognosticators are almost uniformly predicting that the GOP is going to lose the Senate. And if the GOP loses both the White House and the Senate, you and I both know that Hillary Clinton is going to be able to get all of her confirmations straight through including Supreme Court justices and there will be virtually no check on those. I mean, should you start changing the message a little to try to preserve at least the Senate at this point?

PENCE: Well, look, my message in North Carolina yesterday, Donald Trump's message in Naples on Sunday night is it's time for Republicans to come home.

KELLY: Just tonight, we learned that General Colin Powell, a lifelong Republican is not coming home. Now he says he's going to vote for Hillary Clinton, a woman of whom he was very critical in those e-mails that were leaked. He's not listening to you. First of all, your reaction to General Powell going Democrat in this election.

PENCE: It wouldn't be the first time I disagreed with General Powell. Look, I honor his service to the country in uniform, I honor his service as secretary of state. But if memory serves, he supported Barack Obama eight years ago. So, I'm not really sure it's particularly newsworthy that he's supporting another Democrat for the White House. Even after eight years. That's weaken America's place in the world. Stifled America's economy. But he's entitled to his opinion.

KELLY: So, other than telling them to come on board, what can he do, what can you do?

PENCE: Well, I think we could just talk about the issues. We can just talk about the platform. Look, there's no question that Republicans went through this -- I mean how many candidates were there in our primary, 100, 150 of them?

(CROSSTALK)

PENCE: It was a rough. I mean, it was rough and tumble primary and so there's some of that left over. But look, the unifier in this election is that Republicans, many Independents and frankly many Democrats know that seven and a half years of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's style of leadership has weakened America's place in the world, resulted in cut backs in our military, stifled our economy, ObamaCare is literally disintegrating before our eyes. You even have Bill Clinton calling it the craziest thing in the world.

KELLY: Why is Trump out there blaming a rigged media? And you've pointed to media bias. And it exists. There's no question it exists. The media doesn't want Trump/Pence to be elected. That's very clear. But they didn't want want George W. Bush to be elected and they certainly didn't want him reelected and he was. So, what, I mean, why not take some responsibility? Why doesn't Trump look at himself and say, you know what?

I was consolidating my base but now it's down to 80. And Mitt Romney has 50 percent of Independents and I only have 43. Why, you know, as Brit Hume used to say, winners take responsibility. Losers blame others. To try to blame these numbers entirely on the media being rigged is not real, is it?

PENCE: Well, I think, you know, I hear that rift a little bit that pointing out the overwhelming bias in the national media is somehow, you know, making an excuse. I think he's just making an observation. I mean, Media Research Center just came out with a study of media coverage. It showed that since the conventions, I think the number was that Donald Trump gotten significantly more coverage and more than 90 percent of it had been negative. I mean, I think people out there know --

KELLY: Well, that's because he came out, showing him, saying he wanted to grab women by the, you know what. I mean, you know as well --

PENCE: Come on, Megyn. Long before that.

KELLY: But he does controversial things in the beginning.

(CROSSTALK)

-- About whether it's for attention, whether some of the things he says and does are to generate media attention which you know as well as I do, he loves.

PENCE: Megyn, I got to tell you, most of the people I am out campaigning with know that it's been two on one from almost the beginning of this campaign with the media doing half of Hillary Clinton's work for her. But the amazing thing is that we continue to see this movement growing. Because the American people are talking to each other about the real issues in this campaign, not what the media is chasing after any given day of the week. This campaign.

KELLY: He's talking about it.

PENCE: We're going to find all the way to the finish is because --

(CROSSTALK)

KELLY: And I'll give you the floor but Donald trump went to Gettysburg this weekend to lay out this new agenda, you know, this contract with America and he started it by saying he's going to sue all of the women who are accusing him. And you know as well as I do that those lawsuits will go nowhere. And you're telling me if he's the sitting president of the United States, he's going to start suing individual female citizens who have made these accusations?

PENCE: Well, Megyn, look, everyone in this country is entitled to defend their own reputation and their own integrity and that includes people that are running for president of the United States.

KELLY: It's great to see you Governor Pence. Thanks for being here.

PENCE: Thank you, Megyn.

KELLY: All the best to you.

Well, with some forecasters now suggesting that the Democrats may take control of the Senate on November 8th, we break down the numbers with the man who helped launch a Republican resurgence, Newt Gingrich joins us next.

Plus, could one of the biggest names in sports be now considering a career in politics. Tim Tebow is live on "The Kelly File" tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM TEBOW, NEW YORK METS OUTFIELDER: I think everything happens for a reason. And so, I wouldn't change a thing because I think I have just learned too much from the highs and the lows.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLY: As we edge closer to Election Day, attention has increasingly turned to the down ballot races. The big story now, can Republicans maintain control of the House and in particular the Senate. Today the nonpartisan Cook political report released its new rankings with Cook predicting Democrats will pick up five to seven seats and will likely gain control of the chamber. In moments we'll talk about it with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

But we begin with Trace Gallagher reporting from our West Coast newsroom.

TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: And Megyn, just like the old -- commercials when Charlie Cook and his political report talk, people listen. And the reason Cook now says, Democrats will pick up five to seven seats in the Senate and regain control is that Republican senators in toss-up states can no longer run their own races because Donald Trump is drowning them out. The report says the slow leak in the GOP Senate balloon came the day the access Hollywood tape went public. And trying to turn the tide with only two weeks left could prove difficult at best for two reasons.

One, the Clinton campaign feels emboldened and is now pumping millions of dollars into the races of the down-ballot candidates. And two early voting is under way in more than 30 states and traditionally Democrats perform better than Republicans in early voting. Experts say the GOP's best hope is to convince casual Republicans to go to the polls so Hillary Clinton doesn't walk into the White House with a blank check.

In fact voter turnout will likely be the difference in the battle of Harry Reid's Senate seat in Nevada with former Nevada Attorney General and Democrat Catherine Cortez is deadlocked with Nevada Republican Congressman Joe Heck. The fear for Republicans is that Hillary Clinton dominates the race along the eastern seaboard before the polls even close in the West and some Republican voters in Nevada might decide to opt out of voting.

We should note that Republican incumbents, Senators Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire and Marco Rubio in Florida are also locked in do or die races but both of them are still holding small leads. As for the House, Democrats would need to pick up 30 seats to regain control but for now even the most optimistic polls give them a net gain of just 10 to 18 seats. So it looks like the GOP holds the House -- Megyn.

KELLY: Uh-hm. Trace, thank you.

Joining us now with more, Newt Gingrich. He served as Speaker of the House. He is a Trump supporter and author of the book, "Treason." Great to see you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks for being here.

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It's good to be back.

KELLY: So, I mean, with Cook and many other non-partisan Independent pollsters now saying that the Senate is likely lost to the Republicans, what does that say? I mean if Donald Trump loses this White House race and the Republicans lose the Senate, does that suggest that the Republicans nominated the wrong candidate at the top of their ticket?

Well, look. The next two weeks are a contest of two parallel universes. I just listened to that report. First of all, I used to hang out with Charlie Cook when he would explain that Donald Trump was hopeless and would not get the nomination. I like Charlie. That doesn't mean he's infallible. But let's take the report we just got. Republicans are actually outvoting Democrats in Florida, they're outvoting Democrats in Pennsylvania, that's unprecedented. They've cut the Democratic leads --

KELLY: You predict a win in Pennsylvania.

GINGRICH: I think they might.

KELLY: Really? You think Trump is going to win Pennsylvania?

GINGRICH: Look, all I can report you right now is they're outvoting the Democrats in early voting which is also true in Florida which is unprecedented.

KELLY: But all of the polls in Pennsylvania have her winning.

GINGRICH: What?

KELLY: All of the polls in Pennsylvania have her ahead.

GINGRICH: I know. I just told you, we have two alternative universes right now. In Iowa, for example, the Democrats are 50,000 votes behind where they were with Barack Obama in turnout. The governor is very confident we're going to carry Iowa which Obama carried last time. I think this carries through case after case like this. In Minnesota, we're almost certainly going to win the Congressional seat -- Duluth which is a very Democratic area but it deeply dislikes Hillary Clinton.

KELLY: But let me just ask you, let me just ask you because you say it's two alternate universes.

GINGRICH: Yes.

KELLY: I mean, these are sort of small examples of how he might be ahead in early voting and so on. But I'm telling you that the Fox News Decision Desk just moved Iowa that you just mentioned, Indiana, second Congressional district in Maine, all of them moved left, moved more likely to vote for Hillary Clinton. And in fact, all of the moves that have been on this map over the past three weeks by Larry Sabato, by Cook, by the Fox News Decision Desk. These are nonpartisan outlets that are just trying to call the electoral scoreboard --

GINGRICH: Non-partisan outlets. Every outlet you described is part of the establishment.

KELLY: FOX News? Really? Are we? I don't think so.

GINGRICH: Come on!

KELLY: And every state they've moved, they've moved it to the left, towards Hillary. And you tell me whether that's all made up.

GINGRICH: No, I mean, there are two alternative universes. You have a poll which suggests that she's going to get a Barack Obama turnout among African-Americans. I don't think that's going to happen. You have a Washington Post, ABC News poll where they took out eight percent of the vote because they didn't like the way it voted. Look, I've been around long enough. I remember when the Detroit liberal newspaper on the Sunday before the election said John Angler would lose by 14 points. He won the governorship that year. I don't take polls as seriously as people who have never run for office. I can tell you.

KELLY: But your candidate loves them and has touted them from the beginning. And he's been behind in virtually every one, out of the last 40 polls that we've seen over the past month. That is the reality.

GINGRICH: If you want to assume the election is over, skip the next two weeks.

KELLY: I'm not assuming anything. I'm asking you whether you believe your candidate is behind based on these numbers and what it says about the down ballot races.

GINGRICH: I believe the odds are at least one in three and maybe better than that. But the difference in intensity and the difference in determination and the degree to which Hillary Clinton is clearly the most corrupt dishonest person ever nominated by a party. All mean that the odds are pretty good she's not going to win. And I actually believe that. This is not just because I'm for Donald Trump. I actually believe the American people are sickened by this.

KELLY: So, let me ask you about that.

GINGRICH: Sure.

KELLY: Let's assume she is corrupt. Right? She was just as corrupt three weeks ago and three months ago. And she would have been corrupt and collapsing physically on September 11th of this year and her poll numbers tanked. But then you know what happened, he had a rough first debate, he took the bait on Alicia Machado. He stayed in that trap for a week. The "Access Hollywood" tape came out which was not produced by Hillary Clinton. That was Trump on camera talking about --

GINGRICH: Megyn, look, I just heard, look, I just heard you go through this with Governor Pence. I get it. I know where you're coming from. But let me point out something to you.

KELLY: Sure.

GINGRICH: The three major networks spent 23 minutes attacking Donald Trump that night and 57 seconds on Hillary Clinton's secret speeches. You don't think this is a scale of bias worthy of Pravda and Izvestia? I mean you want to know why Donald Trump has had a rough time --

KELLY: If Trump is a sexual predator --

GINGRICH: He's not a sexual predator.

KELLY: Okay. That is your opinion.

GINGRICH: You could not defend that statement. I'm sick and tired of people like you using language that's inflammatory, that's not true.

GINGRICH: When you used the word you took a position and I think it's very unfair of you to do that, Megyn. I think that is exactly the bias people are upset by.

KELLY: I think that your defensiveness on this may speak volumes sir.

GINGRICH: No. Let me just suggest to you --

KELLY: No, no, no, let me make my point and now I'll give you the floor. What I said is if Trump is a sexual predator, then it's a big story. And what we saw on that tape was Trump himself saying that he likes to grab women by the genitals and kiss them against their will. That is what we saw. And then we saw ten women come forward after he denied actually doing it at a debate to say that was untrue, he did it to me, he did it to me, we saw reporters, we saw people who worked with him. People from Apprentice and so on and so forth. He denies it all. Which is his right. We don't know what the truth is. My point to you is as a media story, we don't get to say the ten women are lying. We have to cover that story, sir.

GINGRICH: Sure. Okay. So it's worth 23 minutes of the three networks to cover that story and Hillary Clinton had a secret speech in Brazil to a bank that paid her 225,000 saying her dream as an open border where 600 million people could come to America, that is not worth covering.

KELLY: That is worth covering and we did.

GINGRICH: -- the tapes of your show recently, you are fascinated with sex and you don't care about public policy.

KELLY: Me, really?

GINGRICH: That's what I get out of watching you tonight.

KELLY: You know what, Mr. Speaker, I'm not fascinating by sex but I am fascinated by the protection of women and understanding what we're getting in the Oval Office and I think the American voters would like to know --

GINGRICH: And therefore, we're going to send Bill Clinton back to the East Wing because after all, you were worried about the sexual predators.

KELLY: Yes. Listen, it's not about me, it's about the women and men of America and the poll numbers show us that the women of America in particular are very concerned about these allegations and in large part believe that they are a real issue. And --

GINGRICH: You want to comment on whether -- you want to comment on whether the Clinton ticket has a relationship to a sexual predator?

KELLY: Excuse me, sir. We on "The Kelly File" have covered the Clinton matter as well. We've hosted Kathleen Willey, we've covered the example of him being accused as well. But he's not on the ticket. And the polls also show that the --

(CROSSTALK)

GINGRICH: He'll be in the east wing --

KELLY: In the deeds of Hillary Clinton's husband than they are in the deeds of the man who asked us to make his president, Donald Trump. We're going to have to leave it at that and you can take your anger issues and spend some time working on them, Mr. Speaker. Thanks for being here.

As we get into the homestretch, a high ranking retired commander is taking part in a brand new ad for Hillary Clinton. Four-Star General John Allen is here next to explain why he made the decision he did.

Plus, a new WikiLeaks dump of Clinton e-mails is creating serious new questions about whether President Obama lied to the American people about what he knew and when.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL PLANTE, CBS SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Mr. President, when did you fist learn that Hillary Clinton used an e-mail system outside the U.S. government for official business while she was secretary of state?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLY: Breaking tonight. With 2016 entering the homestretch, the former military commander who made big news at the Democratic National Convention has surfaced again. In a brand-new political ad, distinguished General John Allen says, when it comes to keeping American safe, the choice is clear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JOHN ALLEN, RETIRED FOUR-STAR GENERAL: I served under President Bush and Obama. I fought the Taliban. I was asked to form a global coalition to counter ISIL. When someone makes the comment that they know more about the Islamic State or ISIL than do the generals, it implies a complete ignorance of the reality. But I believe Secretary Clinton really understands the threat that the Islamic States poses to the United States and to the American people. And I believe she understands how to wield American power to ultimately defeat this threat and to keep us safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY: Joining me now in a "Kelly File" exclusive, retired Four-Star Marine General John Allen. General, great to see you. Thank you very much for being here.

ALLEN: Good evening Megyn.

KELLY: So to the man who used to head CENTCOM who our viewers know used to run the war in Afghanistan and the fight against ISIS for a time. So, you've had some experience fighting the enemy, and I want to ask you, because it is extraordinary to see a general like you come out and get political. What made you do it?

ALLEN: Well, Megyn, I spent a lot of time thinking about it. It wasn't an easy decision. It's less about being political than it is or it was and remains about expressing my very clear support for the person I believe utterly should be the next commander-in-chief. I was very concerned about the rhetoric that we were hearing in the campaign. I remain concerned about the rhetoric that we hear in the campaign about the potential that we could see American forces being used for torture or for carpet bombing or to assassinate the families of alleged terror victims or secure the illegal seizure of Iraqi oil.

You know, that kind of rhetoric I believe had to go or it had to be challenged and it had to be challenged publicly. So challenging that rhetoric would also expressing unambiguously my belief that Secretary Clinton should be the next commander-in-chief were important to me.

KELLY: Why do you think that's so bad, I mean, let me just say as about the torture in particular, right, because I think a lot of people look back at what happened during the Bush administration and are horrified but the intense enhanced interrogation techniques. But there are a lot of people who defend them saying they did work and they did get information out of people like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and those very same people say go Trump on his promise to bring those techniques back.

ALLEN: Well, a couple of things. First of all, we don't know how well torture works. I think what we do know is that someone -- people will say anything to stop the pain and we know that very well. We know that clearly. We know that from experience. So, the idea that the employment of systemic torture ought to be a part of the repertoire that we have with respect to how we handle and treat detainees I think is not part of who we are.

It hasn't proven itself to be that valuable as a technique that we should even consider compromising our values or our standards to do it. But also let me make something really very clear. If it were ever to be believed that we systematically tortured those that we detained, we have no reason - - we would have no reason to believe that our troops, if ever taken prisoner, would be treated in any other way, that they would be horribly tortured themselves. So we need to be thinking about this in a clear eyed way.

KELLY: Let's talk about Hillary Clinton as a potential commander-in-chief. She does have a foreign policy record unlike Trump who has never held public office before and it's not -- it's far from perfect, let's put it that way. She was behind -- she supported, you know, what we did in Libya, which has led to disastrous results by pretty much any measure. She was behind the Iran deal which has been very controversial.

And certainly she underestimated the security threat in Benghazi, Libya as a separate but somewhat related matter leading to the death of four Americans on September 11th of 2011. So, how can you as a general serving in the positions you have support her for commander-in-chief?

ALLEN: I think she's responded to many of those concerns, particularly Benghazi. I saw her in action when I was a commander in Afghanistan. She was the Secretary of State. We worked closely on a number of issues. I saw her in action in the sit room.

I saw her in action in Kabul when she would visit our ambassador and would spend time with me -- I spent time with her individually as the commander. She's calm. She understands international relations. She understands that the influence of America is best exerted through our relationships overseas and through our alliances and our partnerships.

KELLY: But what about -- but what about Trump and Putin. You know, he says he understands that too. And you know, we've seen Putin -- I don't know if he likes Trump. He's complimented him. You tell me why Putin is doing that?

ALLEN: I don't know that Putin has complimented him, in fact, I believe that Putin has said that he hadn't complimented him. So, I'm not clear necessarily on your question but I don't see that there is a value in the nature of the relationship that I have seen be described between Mr. Trump and Putin.

KELLY: How closely do you think the Russians and Putin in particular are watching our election?

ALLEN: Very, very closely, Megyn. Look, there are great forces at work here. One of the great threats I think to Russia is the solidarity of the European Union. They're deeply concerned about the capacity of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which has been the stalwart alliance on which so much of the transatlantic alliance, so much of the security of western Europe, southern Europe has rested for so many years.

And the solidity or the solidarity of those organizations are of great interest to him. And when one of the two principal candidates for the president of the United States in fact cheer leads the disillusion of the EU or would talk about not being willing to honor Article 5 of the NATO charter, we've got some real reason for Putin to want to see a particular individual in the oval office.

KELLY: Last question because I got to go, but do they study -- he's a former KGB guy, Putin -- do they study, you know, do you think he's studying Trump and studying Hillary Clinton?

ALLEN: Yeah, there's no question about that. They've got the voice prints. They can tell when someone is agitated. They can tell when someone is angry. They can tell when someone is telling the truth or not telling the truth. And all of this is to ensure that in a crisis they can push the buttons that they think they need to in order for that crisis to go their way.

Michael Morrell, the former deputy director of the CIA wrote an excellent piece on this and I think that it's worth our always being conscious that the Russians are going to watch every aspect of this. They're quite good at it. They're quite the expert at understanding people's personalities and I think that that's something we should take into account.

KELLY: Fascinating. General Allen, thanks for being here and thanks for your service.

ALLEN: Thank you, Megyn. God bless.

KELLY: New controversy bubbling up for Hillary Clinton in the White House today as the latest WikiLeaks dump suggests that President Obama may have lied in his initial comments about Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server and private e-mail. Former President Bush speech writer Marc Thiessen and Matt Bennett, a former aide to President Clinton are next on that.

Plus could one of the biggest names in sports be now considering a career in politics? Tim Tebow is live on "The Kelly File" in moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLY: Developing tonight, the White House is now dealing with some awkward new questions about Hillary Clinton's e-mail scandal and whether President Obama lied to the American people about what he knew. Remember, it was back in 2015, not long after the story broke when CBS News had a chance to press the White House about the Clinton controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PLANTE: Mr. President when did you first learn that Hillary Clinton used an e-mail system outside the U.S. government for official business while she was secretary of state?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: At the same time everybody else learned it through news reports.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY: But now we're seeing hacked e-mails from WikiLeaks that show that team Clinton was stunned by that response, exchanging e-mails suggesting President Obama was not being truthful and about how this needed "cleaning up." Ed Henry is our chief national correspondent. Ed?

ED HENRY, FOX NEWS CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening Megyn. Tonight, White House spokesman Josh Earnest is stressing the president never said he did not trade e-mails with Hillary Clinton, he just did not know the details about her server, but that is not how top Clinton adviser Cheryl Mills read the president's interview with CBS. She appeared to freak out in real time firing off an e-mail declaring "we need to clean this up - - he has e-mails from her -- they do not say state.gov."

Meaning Mills, who was chief of staff at the State Department knew Clinton and the president had exchanged work e-mails on her personal e-mail address, so his answer set off alarm bells. Those who read it to mean that he had not told the whole truth and gasoline could be poured on the Clinton e-mail fire. Other new e-mails also show in-fighting among Clinton advisers after the "New York Times" revealed the existence of the server in 2015.

With liberal activist Neera Tanden writing to John Podesta saying and teeing off on Mills but saying, "this is a Cheryl special. Why didn't they get this stuff out like 18 months ago? So crazy." Podesta agreed replying, "unbelievable." "I guess I know the answer," concluded Tanden, "they wanted to get away with it." Yet another batch of notes show a Clinton adviser reveal that the candidate had trust issues with her own staff because of the leaks about the e-mail scandal. Podesta may have summed to all of this up by calling the controversy a hot mess. Megyn.

KELLY: Ed Henry, thank you. Joining me now, Marc Thiessen, Fox News contributor and former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush, and Matt Bennett, a former deputy assistant to President Clinton. Good to see you both.

MARC THIESSEN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Good to see you Megyn.

KELLY: I mean, Marc, you know, when you say the word lie it means there's a consciousness of deception, you know. At a minimum, the president said something that was incorrect. That much we know. How do you get to lie?

THIESSEN: Well, because -- so if you look at the -- it's important to look at the question that he was asked. So he was not asked when did you learn that Hillary Clinton had a private unsecured server in her bathroom. He was asked by CBS News, "when did you first learn that Hillary Clinton used an e-mail system outside the U.S. government for official business while she was Secretary Of State," and he said, "I learned it from the media."

That is plain untrue because we now know that he was e-mailing with her on an e-mail system outside of the U.S. government. Her e-mail did not say state.gov. It didn't even say gmail or hotmail, it said clintonemail.com. So did he not notice that? Cheryl Mills noticed that. That's why she said we need to clean this up, which meant cover up the fact that there were e-mails between them which they did successfully until this September.

KELY: Matt, why are you shaking your head no?

MATT BENNETT, FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT: Look, Megyn, Marc doesn't know anything about what the president knows or whether he was being untruthful because what he doesn't know is whether the president noticed the URL that e-mail from Hillary originated from. I don't notice people's URLs. Most people I think don't and surely the president, one of the busiest people on the planet doesn't notice. That is a staff thing to worry about. Cheryl Mills...

KELLY: OK, but let me ask you this -- so point taken, but let me ask you Matt, the facts seem to be that our secretary of state and our president were having a little chat via e-mail on an unsecure server via her private e-mail address, which is outrageous. And he, in your scenario doesn't even know.

So what's to stop him from saying something he shouldn't be saying and does that not underscore the grossly irresponsible nature of her decision and under your theory, her lack of disclosure of it in talking to people like the president?

BENNETT: Look, there is no question that she made a mistake and she has said that a million times, including in the last debate.

KELLY: A rather large one.

BENNETT: She should not have a personal server. I mean, it was a mistake, but we don't know anything about what the president was paying attention to as it relates to the e-mails coming from Secretary Clinton.

KELLY: Well, if he didn't pay attention to it, Marc, is that not on her?

THIESSEN: It said clintonemail.com.

KELLY: He had too much faith in her.

THIESSEN: It said clintonemail.com. It's not hard to see. It's not a URL. It's the e-mail that

KELLY: Yet, it's one or the other Marc.

THIESSEN: Every American...

KELLY: Either he saw it and he knew or he didn't see it and the reason he didn't know is because his secretary of state didn't call it to his attention that she wasn't writing from where she ought to have been.

THIESSEN: And Cheryl Mills knew and Cheryl Mills noticed it and so she said, "let's clean -- we need to clean this up." He has e-mails that don't say state.gov. Now what did she mean by clean this up? She meant cover up the fact they had been e-mailing. Why did they want to cover up the fact that they've been e-mailing?

KELLY: Well, because he came out shortly after that and tried to clean it up.

THIESSEN: Because that would make him complicit in her misconduct. It would make him complicit in any breaches of security that came out.

BENNETT: That is -- that is...

KELLY: We will ponder that over the break because it's a short segment, but thanks for being here. See you guys.

THIESSEN: Thanks Megyn.

KELLY: Tim Tebow's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the world headquarters of Fox News, it's "The Kelly File" with Megyn Kelly.

KELLY: Well Tim Tebow captured the nation's attention as a Heisman award winning football player back at the University of Florida. He went on to play in the NFL starting with the Denver Broncos. A couple of teams and a few years later, he is now taking a turn at professional baseball having recently signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets.

Already one of the biggest names in sports, could his future include politics down the road as well? Joining us now, Tim Tebow, author of the new book "Shaken, Discovering Your True Identity In The Midst Of Life's Storms." Tim, it's great to see you. Thank you so much for being with us.

KELLY: You played football. It went great and then it went not as great and now you've decided to play baseball and you're in the minor leagues for the Mets. And how does that happen? Was like were you good at both in high school? How did you get to that point?

TEBOW: Well, first of all, that's a great way to sum it up. Yeah, baseball was something I did my whole life and I honestly almost went pro out of high school. But I chose the University of Florida more because mom wanted me to get an education. But I love both and baseball was something that has been with me ever since.

And when football didn't necessarily pan out how maybe I thought or hopes it would, baseball is always with me and it was something that I had been thinking about for a couple of years and even had to convince some people on my own team that I could do it. But now I'm out pursuing it and loving it and having so much fun.

KELLY: See, I get it. Like you like to hit things and you like to throw things so you've chosen two good sports for you.

TEBOW: You got it, Megyn, You got it.

KELLY: I think what I read about the book is actually very inspirational because I think people obviously (ph) or certainly know you're a man of faith and you're a man who loved football and played it. But you've had failures as I read. You were let go by four NFL teams in five years after having such a story beginning to your career. How do you deal with that? How do you get through those kinds of challenges and failures?

TEBOW: Well, that's what this book is all about. It's about handling the lows. You know, Megyn, I've been blessed to go through some highs, but I think going through the lows is something honestly I am so thankful for now too because I feel like there are so many people that life hits them right in the face and they have to go through a lot of lows and it really gives me the opportunity to relate to a lot of people.

And that's this book is written for. It's written for people that have gone through lows or about to go through lows or going through lows and it's to encourage them that their life matters, that they're important, to realize the purpose that they have in their life.

And that was really the heart that I had behind this for the last year and a half or so of really trying to write to young people to encourage them about how much they matter, how they can have a foundation that is bigger than just what they do. It's who they are, more importantly who's they are and so that's really what this book is about.

KELLY: Is it scary for you to, you know, having not made it in your first chosen profession to be trying again in what is sort of a brand-new one?

TEBOW: Not really. I think a couple things, one, perfect love casts out all fear. And two, when you're doing something for the fun of it, for the passion for it and you're really giving it everything you got, what is success and failure. Success to me is pursuing and playing something that I love every single day and the results will take care of itself.

But at least I can look back 20 or 30 years from now and say, hey, I did everything I possibly could for the passions that I have and what I love and what was in my heart rather than being scared of what critics or naysayers or even failing, you know, and stopping because of that. Because I think unfortunately in today's society, so many people do that because we're afraid of what other people are going to think.

KELLY: That's right. Amen to that by the way. So but I have to ask you whether there might be politics in your future. First of all, but quickly, were you asked to speak at the RNC this past summer?

TEBOW: I was.

HELLY: And you declined. So, was that -- why? Why didn't you do it?

TEBOW: Well for me, I really try to go after what is on my heart, what I'm passionate about the moment and politics could be something in my future one day. You know, for me, my goal has always been to make a difference in the biggest way possible. To be able to change as many lives as possible. To be able to encourage as many lives as possible.

And right now I don't feel like that's in politics. But if one day I feel like that's where I'm called to go, then that's what I'll do. I just don't know if that's the right road for me yet.

KELLY: It's been fun watching you. And I know while your expressions of faith on the field were controversial to some, they were beloved by so many of our viewers. And you are a man of faith and you speak about it openly and we've always admired you from afar. Good luck with the book, "Shaken."

TEBOW: Well, thank you so much Megyn. And good luck with your book. I mean it's coming out soon too.

KELLY: That's right, November 15th.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLY: So, Tim Tebow mentioned my book and it does come out on November 15th. The election is two weeks from tonight and the book comes out three weeks from tonight and I can't wait to show it with you. Barnesandnoble.com, Amazon.com now, preorder. Thank you. See you tomorrow night.

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